Look into farmers' issues: AAP to Centre

Aam Aadmi Party today asked the Union Agriculture Ministry to look into the issues being faced by farmers across the country and demanded compensation for the family of a farmer who committed suicide at the party's rally here.
At a meeting with the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, senior AAP leaders including MP Bhagwant Mann, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh raised issues related to land bill, cane dues and poor relief being given to farmers in various states.
After the meeting, Singh said AAP leaders also made a reference to the farmer's suicide and demanded compensation for his family.

Speaking to reporters, Viswas said: "We made 12-13 demands including farmers' suicide cases, land bill, sugarcane dues and poor farm relief.
"We also told him that the Centre is not sending a positive message to farmers across the country. There was an unfortunate incident in the rally. A farmer from Rajasthan committed suicide. We demanded the government to take adequate measures in the interest of farmers."
On farmers' suicides, Singh said: "We informed them that the UP government has written to the Centre that there have been no farmers' suicides due to agrarian crisis, while there were 2-3 cases reported in Maharashtra."

Stating that the Centre has taken measures to help farmers affected by recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm, the Minister said that the norms under the National Disaster Response Fund have been change to increase the compensation by 50 per cent to affected-farmers.

"AAP leaders complained that the UP government was giving a meagre cheque of Rs 70-90 per farmer as relief, We told them that it was the responsibility of the state government. The state government should fix the responsibility. We will also inform them to follow the guidelines," Singh added.
He also said that the Delhi government should have a separate Agriculture Ministry or Department to address the concerns of farmers located in the national capital.

"In the meeting, we said that Delhi has no separate Department of Agriculture or Ministry. We have told them to find ways to set up a department or ministry to address the concerns of farmers in Delhi," he added.